1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to electronic devices including image forming apparatus such as printers, copiers and facsimile machines, as well as computer apparatus, home electrical devices and communication devices. In addition, the present invention relates to an electronic apparatus abnormality diagnosing method, a condition appraisal apparatus for appraising the condition of an electronic device, a management apparatus for managing a plurality of electronic devices by way of a communication line, and an electronic device management system.
2. Description of the Related Art
The use of image forming apparatus of electronic devices of this type and, in particular, electronic copier system image forming apparatus, necessitates maintenance that includes the replacement of consumables such as toner and light-sensitive materials as well as repair when breakdown occurs. When breakdown occurs the complete function or a partial function of the apparatus ceases from the time the breakdown occurs until the repair thereof has been completed, and this creates a significant time loss to the user. Thereupon, it is desirable for the occurrence of an abnormal condition in an image forming apparatus such as breakdown or the onset of the end-life of the unit and component parts to be able to be predicted so that, by the administering of necessary measures such as maintenance in advance, this so-called downtime amount can be reduced.
A hitherto known method for the prediction of the occurrence of an abnormal condition such as the abovementioned breakdown or the end-life of a component part is a method in which statistical processing or deduction of a plurality of information such as sensing information detected by various sensors in the image forming apparatus is implemented (see, for example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 2001-175328).
However, although the possibility of an abnormal condition occurring can be predicted using the abovementioned method described in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 2001-175328, the method is unable to predict the specific period in which the abnormal condition will occur. If the specific period in which the abnormal condition is to occur in an image forming apparatus can be predicted, an examination of the cause and the details of the predicted abnormality can be initiated and, based on the results of this examination, the required level of emergency can be adjudged to ensure that the maintenance is implemented in the appropriate time period. Thereupon, it is desirable to be able to predict not only the possibility of an abnormal condition such as breakdown occurring in an image forming apparatus but also the time period in which said abnormal condition will occur.
Thereupon, by way of example, Japanese Patent No. 2003-184929 proposes a method for predicting the occurrence of an abnormality (abnormality diagnosing method) in which the time period of the occurrence of the abnormality can be predicted.
In this method data of a plurality of types of information related to the condition of the image forming apparatus is acquired, and an index value that changes in accordance with changes in condition of the device is calculated from this data of a plurality of types of information. More specifically, when the image forming apparatus that serves as the subject of condition appraisal is deemed to be of a normal condition the abovementioned data of a plurality of types of information is acquired in a plurality of groups and, from a reference data group (parent group) made up of this data, an index value calculation equation for calculating the abovementioned index value which is a value that changes in response to changes in the condition of said apparatus is determined. Employing this index value calculation equation, the abovementioned index value is calculated for the abovementioned data of a plurality of types of information acquired about the image forming apparatus that serves as the subject of the condition appraisal. By virtue of the fact that changes over time in the calculated index value correspond to changes over time in the condition of the image forming apparatus in this way, an assumption is made that when the index value deviates by more than a set amount from the initial normal condition this will lead to the occurrence of some kind of abnormal condition in the image forming apparatus such as breakdown. In this method, because an appraisal is made of future changes in the condition of the image forming apparatus based on data of the changes over time of the index value, not only is it possible to diagnosis the occurrence of an abnormal condition such as breakdown but it is also possible to predict the time period when this abnormal condition will occur. Because diagnosis of the occurrence of abnormality is possible in this way, the level of emergency thereof can be adjudged to ensure that the maintenance is carried out at the appropriate time.
However, the following problems remain in the adoption of an abnormality diagnosing method such as the method of the abovementioned proposal in image forming apparatus actually delivered to a user. Using this abnormality diagnosing method, in order to determine the abovementioned index calculation value equation, the data of a plurality of types of information about an image forming apparatus deemed to be of normal condition must be acquired in a plurality of groups in advance to prepare a reference data group. Moreover, it was clear as a result of the implementation of abnormality diagnosing tests carried out by the inventors of the present application on an actual image forming apparatus that, as well as the determining of an index value calculation equation by which a highly reliable index value for condition appraisal and abnormality diagnosing could be calculated, the manner in which the abovementioned reference data group was constructed was also important. By way of example, it was clear that erroneous appraisals of the condition of the device and erroneous diagnosis of abnormalities occurred when the number of data from which the abovementioned reference data group is formed was small and this data included data acquired about image forming apparatus of different types. More particularly, there was found to be a problem in that, in the initiation of the bulk production of new types of image forming apparatus, it was difficult to guarantee the formation of a reference data group made up of sufficient quantity of data acquired about the same type of image forming apparatus whereby, following delivery, there were times when highly reliable abnormality diagnosis could not be implemented immediately after the delivery thereof.
It should be noted that these problems are not restricted to the application of the abovementioned abnormality diagnosing method on the abovementioned image forming apparatus and the same problems will arise in the application of the abovementioned abnormality diagnosing method on other electronic devices other than image forming apparatus.